Five are openly against Britain leaving the Union while the others are either neutral or declined to comment.

TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus said: “We believe it would be crazy for the UK to leave the EU, both for businesses and consumers.”

Zoopla co-founder Alex Chesterman said: “We have benefited from access to both capital and talent as part of the EU and leaving would create both economic and political uncertainty, which could have a material impact on our currency, borrowing rates, house prices and wider consumer prices.”

However BusinessCloud held Brexit breakfast debates in Lytham and Birkenhead and found many of the North West's leading businessmen believed the economy to be robust enough to cope with a decision to leave.